Texas employers add 43,600 jobs

Texas employers expanded payrolls by 43,600 jobs in May, the
largest monthly gain in more than three years, according to
preliminary data released Friday by the Texas Workforce
Commission.

Despite the gains, the state unemployment rate remained at 8.3
percent in May, unchanged from April though well below the national
average of 9.7 percent.

Analysts cautioned that Texas is in the early stages of recovery
after deep job losses in 2009, and uncertainty remains about the
strength of the overall U.S. economic rebound.

But Texas employers have boosted payrolls five months in a row,
and seven of the last eight.

The state has gained more than 136,000 jobs this year, after
losing more than 350,000 last year.

"We have solid growth and the leading indicators are still going
up," said Keith Phillips, an economist with the Federal Reserve
Bank of Dallas. "That suggests we're going to see continued job
growth throughout the year."

Most of the state's job gains sprang from business hiring last
month, in sharp contrast to the national picture. The nation as a
whole added 431,000 jobs in May, but most of the increase reflected
temporary hiring for the 2010 census.

Texas lost government employment last month, while employers
expanded payrolls in nine of 11 job categories.

The only job categories showing declines were information, down
2,900 jobs, and government, down 1,100.

"In a lot of states, most of the gain in jobs in May was census
workers," said Dana Johnson, chief economist at Comerica Inc., a
Dallas-based financial services company. "What comes across in
Texas is a very nice increase in private-sector employment."

Employment in Dallas-Fort Worth rose by 15,200 jobs in May, the
area's strongest showing since early 2007.

Johnson said he expected private-sector job growth to increase
nationally in the coming months, with expected gains in
manufacturing and services. But housing remains a significant
weakness.

"I'm optimistic that this moderate growth trajectory will
continue," he said. "But I really was anticipating that we might
get a bit more of a recovery in homebuilding than what is emerging.
To me, that is the main wild card in the second half of the
year."

Texas is benefiting from strength in such areas as the high-tech
industry and energy, which are both helping the broader economy,
the Fed's Phillips said.

"Consumer spending is picking up, not strongly but moderately,"
he said.

Texas employers added 33,700 jobs in April, according to revised
data released Friday, slightly more than the preliminary figure of
32,500 announced last month.

Payroll employment increased in 41 states and the District of
Columbia in May, the Labor Department said Friday.

Five states lost jobs on a net basis, while employment was
unchanged in four states.

The jobless rate fell in 37 states and the District of Columbia.
Six states had increases, and seven saw no change.

Nevada had the highest jobless rate in the nation in May, the
first time since April 2006 that Michigan didn't have it.

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